Tag: Daily Overcomer

When was the Apostle Paul more Fruitful? While Traveling or while in Prison?

While praying yesterday it suddenly occurred to me that it is impossible to limit a person who is fully yielded to God from being fruitful in ministry.

The things that limit our ministry are never external. The devil can only limit us when we yield internally to his tricks.

Attacks of the devil from outside you can only limit your physical movements or activities but not the power or effectiveness of your ministry. I believe that these attacks of the enemy are used by our loving Heavenly Father to teach us to fight and in the process we become even more effective.

When Paul the apostle was traveling around to preach the good news of the kingdom of God he reach thousands of people. And those people reached other people. However when he was imprisoned he was able to mentor those people and more people by writing letters that are read billions of times every year!

Why did God allow Paul to be imprisoned? Because God knew that the prison would not limit God’s plan in the life of Paul.

When you abandon your life and take up the life of Christ. There is nothing that can limit the life of Christ in you. Limits can only come when we still want something for ourselves.

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭20:24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I remember moments in my walk with God when I have recognized a new level of surrender. When I knew that I’m letting go of something that I wanted for myself to get whatever Jesus my Lord was asking!

It takes the grace of God to live as if your life doesn’t belong to you. But I tell you the truth. There is no better way to live.

What are your thoughts? What’s going on in your heart with regards to when Paul was more fruitful? Please share with me in the comments section below.

Do you use a prayer calendar?

I started using a prayer calendar last month and it’s been very powerful! Since last month.

  • It has helped me to pray more specifically for people.
  • It has stirred other believers to pray for members of the body of Christ.
  • It has also helped me to see more clearly that the body of Christ is one.
  • With the prayer calendar, I was inspired to pray specifically for some people that I had not prayed for in a while.
  • I was able to keep in touch with family and friends and pray for them at the same time.

I love praying for people around me and I pray for believers and not-yet-believers. But before now I prayed for them when I remembered and for a smaller group of people regularly. And for these people I prayed as the Holy Spirit led me.

With the prayer calendar, I get to pray for more people and get them involved in the process. I still pray as led by the Holy Spirit but I pray for more people.

What is a prayer calendar?

I didn’t come up with the idea! Here it is in the video below.

So dear one, make your prayer calendar today. Write your list of 30 people or 31.

Try to get them from different church families and cities.

On my list I placed couples on the same day!

Have a blessed time praying for the body of Christ and don’t forget to share your experience with me.

If you have a prayer calendar please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Save it onPintrest

The Prayer Calendar - This is a good tool to help you pray for family and friends.

Do you talk to God about your inner life? Your thoughts?

Who is the real you? The one we all see outside or the one only you and God know?

The correct answer I thinks is both!

The external you is a reflection of the internal you. If you work on the internal you, the external you would be transformed automatically!

If you work however on the external you, only more frustration, shame, fear, doubt and confusion results!

This is why it is important to start your prayers by acknowledging the greatness of God and confessing to Him our failures so that we can be forgiven and transformed. 1 John 1:9-10.

When sin and personal ambitions are removed from our hearts, we get answers to our prayers!

Think of it. If you are asking for what God wants, why would He not answer?

But if you are asking for what God wants but you are asking so that you look like a successful minister, what would a loving Heavenly Father do?

So as you seek to be a disciple maker, talk to your Heavenly Father about your inner thoughts and ambitions. Remember the people that have offended you! Do not waste time praying for other things without genuinely desiring to stop all known sins and personal ambitions.

Spend as much time as you need asking the Lord to take over the seat of your life and thoughts.

You will get more results from prayer when your heart is truly seeking the Glory of God.

Recently I found myself seeking for more people to attend a meeting but then I could also sense a subtle but real desire for me not to be a failure behind that desire.

It doesn’t matter if you are seen as a failure or not. What must be topmost in your heart is that the will of God (salvation) be done!

As you pray this week. Let the Holy Spirit show you your heart and your motives. Then ask God for grace! Receive grace to let go of those thoughts and choose to live only for the glory of God.

Talk to God about your inner life!

4 Ideas of What to Say When You Go Looking for a Person of Peace!

When you go out to look for a person of peace what exactly do you say?

This is a question that I guess is on your mind and that of many other people who are new to disciple making by looking for a person of peace.

It is a good question and I would give you 2 types of answers!

The first one is this! You would need to trust God to give you the right words. But the words don’t matter as much as you think because God has prepared the people long before you decided to go out to find them.

In one story, the non-believer had dreams of the disciple-maker. So when the two of them met, the conversation unfolded naturally.

So if you pray and go out consistently, you will find that the words to say will flow spiritually!

That being said, you would need a reason to be in the community! Here are a few reasons that I have used and other people have used that I have read about.

  1. We are praying for people in the neighborhood would you like us to pray with you?
  2. We are part of a church in the neighborhood and we would like to know how the church can be of help. Would you like to share your thoughts with us?
  3. We are going around this neighborhood looking for young people who need to learn a skill we would teach them how to use computers (we used this in areas where there were many young people without jobs). We had some good connections. With this method, you will need to tell the people that show interest that you are disciples of Jesus.
  4. We are in the neighborhood showing people how to improve their relationship with God. Would you like us to show you how?

Whatever the reason you use, make sure you confirm with the Holy Spirit and look out for people who open up to you after you make it clear that you are disciples of Jesus!

These methods are good in places where there is religious freedom. You will need to be more discreet in places where the people are hostile to the disciples of Jesus!

What reasons have you used in the past? Please share in the comment section below.

Who is a person of peace? How do you recognize them?

Jesus told his disciples to look for a person of peace when he sent them out in Luke 10:6.

It is wise to use the same method when going out to make disciples. This is even more relevant when you are trying to reach out to a community that you are not living in.

Here are a few characteristics of the person of peace according to this scripture.

A person of peace;

  • welcomes you or shows interest in communicating with you.
  • is willing to help you in some way or the other.
  • Is hospitable to you – offers you some kind of food, drink or a place to stay or sit. If it’s in the workplace, the person of peace tries to help you to settle into the workplace.
  • Listens to what you have to say.
  • is willing to let you speak to the people around them (family, friends etc).
  • accepts your prayers and is grateful for them.
  • asks genuine questions about spiritual truth

The first test is the welcome test. When you greet them or say peace be unto this house. The one that shows interest and welcomes you is a potential person of peace.

When I go out with a group to knock on doors, usually we would find one or two who would ask us to come in and sit down.

You then proceed to say what you have come to do.

I will share some ideas with you in my next post of things that you can use as an entrance into a community.

August Books – Packets of Wisdom!

I enjoy reading and I learn a lot from books. I believe that books are packets of wisdom. Every new month, I post a list of the books I read in the previous month and the books I have bought or borrowed to read in the next month or sometime in the future. I hope that I would be able to inspire you to read some of these books and share some good books that you have read with me. At the same time, I hope that this habit would inspire me to read more :).

Completed in August

Here are the books I completed in August. This means that I finished reading the book or listened to it on Audible. It does not mean that I started reading or listening to it in August. I may have started earlier. If I finished the book, it means that I liked it and got a lot from it. I don’t read books just for the sake of it.

Currently Reading

These are books that I am currently reading or listening to on audible. Yes, I read more than one book at a time. When I need to learn more about a subject, I usually pause the book I am reading and I start the new book. There are some books I read on a schedule. Right now I am reading Church History on a schedule.

Hope to start reading

These are books that I have already purchased or borrowed and I look forward to reading.

Have you read any of these books? Do you know some good books that you think I should read? Please suggest them in the comment section below. I got some recommendations last month and I look forward to more. Thanks.

10 Reasons why disciple making should be your priority

Do you know any employee who only works when he feels like it? If you do, they are usually in between jobs 😀!

I have not met a disciple of Jesus (Christian) who thinks that there is no need to make disciples for Jesus!

What I see or observe regularly are believers who take disciple making as something you do when you have the time!

I also meet a lot of believers who say that it should be a priority, and they truly want to do it but they do not know how to do it with ease and with a busy schedule.

If you are in this group then you are the one that this website is designed for!

It is because of you that I was led to start the BiVo Partnership so that we can work together as a community of believers from different professions and I can show you the tips that I have learnt over the years about how to practice the lifestyle of disciple making!

Here are 10 reasons why disciple making should become your priority! This list is in no particular order.

  1. It fills you with joy to see people transformed by Jesus.
  2. You share in the joy of heaven that a lost child is found (Luke 15:7).
  3. You experience a deeper sense of fulfillment because your Heavenly Father is glorified (John 15:8).
  4. Your faith is strengthened because you experience another result of obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:18-20).
  5. You sense that you are playing your role as a disciple of Jesus and it gives you confidence in other aspects of your life.
  6. You develop more boldness to pray for people in need because you have more confidence that God is with you.
  7. Your relationships get better because you are always expecting God to move through you to love people around you!
  8. Your relationship with your family and especially your spouse is strengthened because you start working together for a higher purpose.
  9. You pray more and become more attentive to the Holy Spirit and it affects your decision making even in business and finances.
  10. You become a better and stronger leader because you will be working to encourage others to make disciples!

Let’s get to it right now! Seek first the Kingdom of God… (Matt 6:33).

If you want to work with other professionals (Engineers, doctors, profs, business owners, nurses) to strengthen your disciple making then become a BiVo Partner today. Click on the link.

https://adesobanjo.com/partner/

A 15 year old boy’s one word prayer?

God will work with available vessels. I sense that we would experience more of God if only we can recognize how helpless we are without Him!

A fifteen-year-old boy named Donald was wonderfully converted and became an outstanding helper in the revival.

One day Campbell called at Donald’s home and found him on his knees in the barn with an open Bible before him.

Donald quietly said, “Excuse me a little, Mister Campbell, I am having an audience with the King.”

In a service one night this youth stood up, clasped his hands together and uttered the one word, “Father.”

Everyone was immediately melted to tears by the presence of God invading the house. And this extraordinary young man went on to play an important role in the Berneray revival.

Revival Fire by Wesley Duewel, pg 312.

I know you want this, we can see the move of God if we ask Him.

Let’s work together!

What about children in the house church?

We have been doing something called church in the home for a few years now. We take one Sunday and we have our meetings in the home. Thanks to the pandemic we have been having virtual church in the home every week for many months now.

Church in the home can be scary for some people because they wonder what would happen to the children. What we do now is keep the children in the same room with the adults and we worship together and involve the children.

The very little ones can paint or do some craft on the rug beside their parents. I know it’s a little more work for parents but I believe that children will do well in the church at home and the extra sacrifice is worth the effort.

Here are the reasons why I know that church in the home is a blessing for the children as well.

  1. Those who are already in grade one and above can participate in the meetings. Our children have been participating in our meetings since they could respond to questions. They are now 13 and 10 and they are doing well.
  2. The children get to hang out with adults and see how God works with people. They also see other adults (closeup) with godly lifestyles to look up to.
  3. They experience the manifestation of the Holy Spirit at the meetings and develop faith for these manifestations from a young age.
  4. The older children can start to lead their own Discovery Groups when they get to high school because they have seen it modeled all their lives.
  5. They don’t have to struggle to integrate back to the adult church after being in the kids church for many years.

There are some challenges which usually boil down to more work for the adults at first.

As it is, we are still in the pandemic and still having church at home and we are loving it. Our boys Demi and Damilola love it.

Two elderly ladies?

I am always blown away by the way God works. No one is too young or too old. See what God did with two elderly ladies. One of them was blind. Everyone can pray!

In 1949 in the village of Barvas, Rev. James Murray MacKay was the parish minister. For months he and his church leaders prayed for an outpouring of the Spirit.

In a small cottage lived two elderly sisters: Peggy Smith, aged eighty-four and blind, and her sister Christine Smith, eighty-two and almost bent double with arthritis.

They were unable to attend worship, but for months they prayed in their cottage for God to send revival to Barvas.

Revival Fire by Wesley Duewel, pg 306

They prayed for months for people in their village by name. And other members of the church prayed as well.

One morning after several months of praying, God gave one of the sisters Peggy Smith a vision of the church building filled with people including the young people. She saw hundreds of people being swept into the kingdom of God.

She told her pastor and he and the church elders invited a guest minister Duncan Campbell to speak for a couple of days.

Here is what happened

That night Campbell preached on “The Wise Virgins” and the following night on “The Foolish Virgins.”

The second service closed with intense silence. God was speaking to hearts.

At the close, Campbell dismissed the crowd and the building emptied.

But suddenly the church door opened again and an elder motioned for Campbell to come to the door.

The entire congregation was standing outside, so gripped by the Holy Spirit they did not want to leave.

Other people who had not attended were drawn from their homes by the irresistible power of the Holy Spirit.

Many faces showed deep distress. Campbell called everyone back inside the church.

The awesome presence of God was so profound that unsaved people began to groan with distress and pray in repentance.

Revival Fire by Wesley Duewel pg 308.

Many more wonderful things happened in that village.

When we pray with our whole hearts for a move of God’s Holy Spirit. He always responds.

Let’s pray please! Our Heavenly Father is looking for willing vessels. (Acts 1:14)